Reimagining Democracy: Expanding US Voting Rights beyond Citizenship

Stephanie Mae Pedron

doi:10.22151/politikon.58.CON1

Authors

Stephanie Mae Pedron The Ohio State University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1538-054X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.58.CON1

Keywords:

Voting Rights, US Elections, Immigration, Democracy, Citizenship, American Politics

Abstract

In this brief Conversations essay, I trace how immigrant suffrage in the United States deteriorated in the 19^th century and argue that the US should move toward creating a pathway for noncitizen voting for two reasons—a more representative democracy and for a smoother assimilation process into American culture. Noncitizens contribute economically and socially to their communities, and they often have the same investment in their community’s welfare as citizens. Expanding voting rights to noncitizens, even if only at the local-level, would give them a voice in decisions that affect their everyday lives.

Author Biography

Stephanie Mae Pedron, The Ohio State University

Stephanie Pedron is a PhD Candidate at The Ohio State University specializing in American Politics, Political Methodology, and Political Psychology. She is interested broadly in public opinion, race and ethnicity politics, unorthodox political attitudes, and political behavior. Stephanie primarily engages in survey and experimental research, but she is also a trained mixed-methods researcher with a strong emphasis on quantitative methods. Currently, Stephanie works as a Graduate Research Associate for the OSU Department of Political Science where she co-designs survey experiments and behavioral games to study minority politics and disorder. Her dissertation looks at how normalized out-group biases in the US shape voters’ political attitudes and behaviors. Stephanie’s research has been generously supported by the Institute for Humane Studies and The Ohio State University.

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